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There are a few matters that we must be clear about in the practice of the new way. First, the church in Taipei is taking the lead in this matter. Although at present it has not fully entered in, at least it has begun. Second, the results from this term of the training have been very rich: six thousand were baptized through door-knocking, and two thousand home meetings have been established. At present there are seven hundred trainees who are still bearing this burden. Third, we have a long-range view before us, which is the evangelization of Taiwan and then of the world.
We pointed out previously that we will need five years to complete the evangelization of Taiwan and that the ideal situation would be to produce one thousand full-time serving ones. Now there are about five hundred qualified full-time trainees; if in the next year and the following year we are able to produce another two hundred fifty trainees per year, we will have a total of one thousand. If this happens, the goal of evangelizing Taiwan in five years will be assured. This future, this long-range view, is set before us, so we must not slow down or stop; instead, we must continue pressing on.
Since 1974 we have had the summer and winter trainings for the life-study of the Bible. On average, more than eighteen hundred people attend the live training, and together with the video trainings there are a total of at least five thousand people attending every training. This burden is necessary and very heavy. Now the full-time training here in Taipei is burning like wildfire, but I must return to America to prepare for the life-study training. Therefore, I hope that the trainers will be able to continue bearing this heavy burden to keep the training moving forward.
Apart from the trainers, I hope that three other groups in the churches would be able to offer their shoulders to help bear the burden of the practice of the Lord’s new way. The first group is the elders in the church in Taipei. Ephesians 5:14 says, “Awake, sleeper.” We cannot continue sleeping; we must awake and arise. Ninety elders take the lead in twenty-three meeting halls to promote the new way for the Lord’s recovery. This burden is very heavy. If the changing of the system is delayed due to the elders’ unwillingness to rise up, we may not know its effect until eternity. This is a great matter. The new way must get through first in the church in Taipei. If the elders in Taipei do not wake up, then the church in Taipei will be like a “dead end,” and it will drain the morale out of the training. I hope the elders in the church in Taipei will all see this crucial point.
The second group is the ones who have the heart to remain in the full-time training. There are a total of about five hundred from abroad, from other places in this province, and from the city of Taipei itself who are willing to stay and help care for the two thousand home meetings. Among these are about one hundred saints from abroad, many of whom want to bring their families over to Taiwan. There are also many from overseas who want to attend the next term of the training. The church in Taipei must prepare places for them to live; this burden is also very heavy.
The third group is all the saints from the church in Taipei who, two weeks ago, signed their names to consecrate themselves and express their willingness to go out door-knocking for two hours every week for the Lord or to lead a home meeting. We need to have some fellowship with these three groups of people to instruct them and give them some explanation so that they will understand what they should do in the present situation.
We have said that we must lead the home meetings properly so that the new ones will know the truth and grow in life. This is the third step of the actual practice of the new way, and it is a very important and crucial step. The success or failure of the new way completely hinges on whether or not we are able to carry out and get through this step. We now have more than six thousand newly baptized ones and have set up two thousand home meetings, so it is just as if we have given birth to the babies and have set up a good environment to care for them. Therefore, the next step is to determine how we will actually nurture and care for them.
Now that so much progress has been made in medicine, many premature babies can be raised to maturity. I have a grandson who was only as big as a little frog when he was born. When I saw him, I doubted whether he would be able to grow up, but now he is tall and husky and plays football very well with the American children. This is because his mother did a good job of feeding and caring for him. In the same way, today when we gain people through door-knocking and establish meetings in their homes, if we do not have the proper way to feed them, they will all die prematurely in about three months. Therefore, the way in which we lead and care for people will determine whether this new way for the Lord’s recovery will succeed and prosper in bringing the Lord’s recovery on or whether this way will be a “dead end” that will cause us to “close shop.” Some may ask why we must take the new way. First, the new way is according to the Bible. Second, a review of the past thirty years of history in Taiwan shows that the lack of home meetings as a support is the reason that many were baptized but few have remained. We have also heard many testimonies from the trainees who have gone out and knocked on the doors of many dormant saints who have not been in meetings for a long time. We have had this question in our heart for a long time: over the years we have baptized more than one hundred thousand, but where did all those people go? Five years ago there were three hundred meeting in hall one in the church in Taipei, now there are still three hundred, and I am afraid that by the end of the world, there will still be three hundred. Why is this? It is because there are no home meetings as the supporting foundation. Now the practice of the new way is making the home the focal point, so it gives us all a supporting foundation.
It is very easy to see that without a good church life, there is no way to retain people. If we use a hose to pump water out of a well and onto the ground, the water will soon seep back into its original place. The result is that while we are pumping water on the one hand and pouring water on the other, the water is simultaneously seeping back into the ground. Unless we have a container, we will not be able to keep the water from leaking away. The church life should be like a reservoir that keeps the water from leaking away whenever it rains, because the water is completely stored up in the reservoir. It is not easy to build a large reservoir, but it is very easy to find water pots. Each home meeting, even if it cannot be considered a small reservoir, can be considered a small water pot. The water that we pump up can be poured into these pots. From the beginning to the end of the year, only a small amount will leak out. For the most part the water can be stored up. In the past our failure was that we only had the big meetings and did not build up the home meetings, so we did not have a place to store the water. It was like giving birth to children with no place to raise them. Now we have found that the home meetings are the right place for the new ones to grow up and live. Therefore, we all must see clearly that the new way depends on the home meetings, and the home meetings depend on how we lead and perfect the new ones.
The fourth practical step for the practice of the new way is to lead the new ones, who have been baptized, who have home meetings established in their homes, and who have been led to know the truth and pursue the growth in life, into the full knowledge of the church and into the practical church life. This step very much requires the coordination of the local church. This means that although the saints raised up by the local church have helped in door-knocking and in caring for home meetings, the new ones that they gain cannot remain only in the home meetings but need to be brought into the church life. Therefore, the church must have a church life that is up to the standard in order to support these new ones for this further step. To illustrate, we may have a large reservoir with water flowing in constantly; however, if the reservoir has a breach or a hole, then the water will eventually all run out. After a rainstorm the reservoir may be full, but after just half a month the water will all run out through the breach or the hole. This is the root of the problem. Therefore, in order to bring new ones into the practical church life, the church must rise up to coordinate without any breaches or leaky holes so that we will not lose the water that is flowing in.
The first matter in which the church must coordinate is the church meetings. The church meetings must be living, fresh, moving, and rich. If the meetings are like this, not only the new ones but also anyone who comes will be supplied and touched. If the church meetings are neither hot nor cold, neither high nor low, and if everyone does not function, but instead just a few leading, responsible brothers bear the entire meeting, then the meeting will be dull and tasteless. This will have a great effect on the new ones.
In some Lord’s table meetings, the elders work very hard to pray again and again, sometimes praying at least five or six times, because not many other people pray. Thus, the meetings are not living, moving, fresh, or rich. The new ones that we have now gained through door-knocking are mostly very fresh and hungry. As soon as we bring them into the present condition of the church meetings, the meetings might dampen their interest and be unable to meet their needs. Some people may even receive a negative impression. Some new ones have been helped very much by the home meetings, but after they are brought to the larger church meetings, they do not want to come again because the big meetings cannot meet their need and taste.
For this reason the elders must understand the seriousness of this matter and do their best to rise up and bear this important and great responsibility of bringing the saints into a living, fresh enjoyment for the success of the practice of the new way. We have already been quite successful in gaining new ones through door-knocking and in establishing home meetings. After this, we need to find a way to uphold the new ones, and the key to this is with the elders.
The world-famous American evangelist, Billy Graham, began to serve the Lord in Los Angeles in 1949. He also saw that in many of his large gospel meetings more than ten thousand people would leave their names. After sending them to all the denominations, however, most of them became very cold and were never heard from again. Today the situation in the Lord’s recovery is somewhat like this. Therefore, the churches must rise up to coordinate with the move of the Lord’s new way. If the churches are to rise up, the greatest responsibility falls upon the elders. They cannot just oversee others taking the new way while they themselves do not move. In the local church life the elders are the first “link,” the leading sheep who take the lead in the flock. If they do not go or move, the flock behind them will not be able to move or go on at all. The influence of the leading sheep is very great.
In 1958 I visited England, and the brothers there made a special trip to take me to a sheep ranch in Scotland to see how the flocks of sheep move. The flock is totally dependent on the leading of the head sheep. If the head sheep bleats, the entire flock bleats. If the head sheep lies down, the entire flock lies down. If the head sheep stops walking, the entire flock stops moving, and no matter how much you prod them, they will not move again until you get to the head sheep and force it to move. The Lord’s Word says very clearly that the church is God’s flock and that the elders are the leading sheep who lead the entire flock (Acts 20:28-29; 1 Pet. 5:2-3). If the elders take the lead not to move, then how can the saints move?
We must keep looking to the Lord for His care, especially the elders. They need to fast and pray once a week, asking the Lord to care for the saints and to bring them into the vision and practice of the new way. This practice has already involved over a thousand people and has incurred great expense. However, the Lord has had mercy on us and has completely met our every need by His rich supply. Now the responsibility for this great move has been transferred to the elders of the church in Taipei. If this “first link” — the elders — does not move, then all our previous efforts will be nullified. Therefore, I hope that the elders will be touched to rise up and move so that the new way will reach the entire church through them.
Furthermore, the elders should not be elders in name only, nor should the eldership be an empty position. According to the Bible, the elders should shepherd the flock by becoming patterns to the flock. Therefore, if the elders do not take action, the saints have no way to grow up, and the church has no way to go on. Hence, all the saints, all those who love the Lord, who love the Lord’s recovery, and who love the Lord’s churches, should receive a burden to pray for the church in Taipei, particularly for the elders, calling on the Lord to raise them up and push them forward. If, as the crucial “first link,” they cannot get through or take action, then all our previous efforts in changing the system will be nullified, and we will not be able to get through in the matter of the new way.
When we go out to lead the home meetings, teach the truth to the new ones, and lead them to grow in life, there will be a necessary process. The working out of this process will not be uniform; some new ones will learn a little faster, while others will go somewhat more slowly. For example, some will be eager to learn what the church is, so we should take advantage of the opportunity to stir up their love for the Lord and the church and bring them to the church meetings. We must, however, pay attention to the matter of bringing them to the appropriate meetings. Otherwise, not only will we be unable to help them, but we may even damage them. This is why we say that the local churches must coordinate in the matter of the meetings by making them living, fresh, and full of supply. Other new ones may be reluctant to leave the home meetings and may even be unwilling to meet in the homes of other people. Concerning these ones, we should still spend time to care for them, feeding and supplying them wisely until we can bring them out of their homes.
The local churches are not perfect. Although it seems that we are entrusting the elders of the church in Taipei with the responsibility of the success or failure of the new way, actually it is the responsibility of the elders in all the local churches also. The reason Paul wrote so many Epistles to so many local churches, such as the church in Rome, the church in Corinth, and the church in Ephesus, was that every local church needed perfecting. The saints leading the home meetings also need the wisdom to determine the situation of the new ones; if they are mature, they should be brought to attend the appropriate church meetings. This requires us to have much learning.
During this time of transition, if we are faithful, the home meetings can be formed — not formally or organizationally, but spontaneously — into group meetings. For example, according to the practical situation, you may ask several neighboring homes that are under your care to gather together and have a small group meeting every once in a while. This can be likened to piling burning coals together: the more you pile them up, the brighter the fire burns. These three to five homes that come together will slowly get to know one another, and as they become familiar with each other, they will gradually learn to like one another. Then they will be able to stir up their love and encourage one another. We should not allow the new ones to remain just in the home meetings, or we will be like mothers who keep their children at home and do not let them leave to get an education. This makes it very difficult for them to grow well. The goal of leading the home meetings is to bring a few homes together to gradually make them a group meeting and ultimately to bring the new ones into the church so that they may have a proper church life. Thus, the church meetings must be living, fresh, rich, moving, and full of supply so that the saints will feel confident that they can bring the new ones.
According to the statistics, the rate of increase in Christianity over the past twenty years has been very low, while the rate of increase for other religions like Buddhism or Islam has been very high. The reason is that the system in Christianity is wrong, because all the believers do nothing while hired pastors do everything for them. This kind of practice cannot cause the believers to live and grow; instead, it kills them and nullifies their organic function. One of the earliest Christian denominations that came to Taiwan was the Scottish Presbyterian Church; it has a history of over one hundred years here, but at present they have only a little over 100,000 members. The local churches are next with only 40,000 or 50,000; the third is the True Jesus Church with 20,000 or 30,000. These three added together make only about 200,000, so when we include the other Christian groups, the total number of Christians in Taiwan is only about 500,000. This fact is very disappointing.
Not only has the situation in Christianity become disheartening; even the so-called churches in the Lord’s recovery have fallen and gone backward into a condition that is about the same as that of Christianity. In 1949 we began the work in Taiwan, and in the first four or five years the numbers kept increasing from 400 or 500 all the way up to 40,000 or 50,000. After almost forty years the present number is still about 40,000 or 50,000. What is the reason for this? It must be that the practice of having big meetings, in which one person speaks and everyone else listens, is killing the organic function of the saints, while at the same time it is killing the increase and spread of the churches.
However, due to God’s faithfulness we are not discouraged, and within us there is a long-range view that home meeting after home meeting will be raised up until each home meeting is full of vitality and everyone — male, female, young, and old — can speak, sing, and function. We must accomplish this in the shortest time possible so that every home meeting will be living and functioning. Then when we go out door-knocking to preach the gospel, we will bring people to salvation without having to rely on preachers. Instead, household after household will go out, and one household will perfect another household. Then the rate of increase will be extremely high.
It may be that we all are accustomed to the big meetings and big façades. The older saints especially think it is very good to come to a big meeting and see at least three hundred or five hundred people sitting there with at least one person who knows how to preach. They wonder why it is necessary to break these big meetings up into meetings of only three or five people in which everyone must speak and take the lead even if they do not know how to do these things. In their opinion these meetings are not very orderly or beautiful. However, the Lord is not interested in a façade. He only cares whether or not His children are functioning. If we can lead 20,000 home meetings with 50,000 or 60,000 new ones, it will be very easy for them to go out door-knocking. Today the neighborhoods are all composed of high-rise buildings. If the Lord has mercy on us, we can get ten percent of the households in every high-rise building to be saved. Then they can go out door-knocking and preach the gospel to the other ninety percent of the families. It would be so easy because they would all know one another. This is not being idealistic. Rather, this is a practical, long-range view set before us. May the Lord have mercy on us that we would be able to carry out this long-range view and testify that this is the Lord’s recovery and the Lord’s church.
This does not mean, however, that the big meetings do not have their function. Actually, for the enjoyment of the riches of the Body, we need to have combined meetings of the entire church at least six times a year, two of which should be the graduation meetings of the full-time training. Then we should have some joyful gatherings as feasts once every three months.
In between the group meetings and the meetings in the meeting halls, we may need yet another level of meetings. Taipei has a few districts with 600 or 700 saints and some with 300 or 400 saints. In these districts we should have a meeting place to allow these saints to have a meeting that is nearby, in which they can help one another. Even if they cannot all come, at least a good number can come. The subduing strength of such a district meeting will greatly influence the entire community.
In conclusion, the meetings of the church can be divided into at least five levels: home meetings, group meetings, district meetings, meeting-hall meetings, and big joint meetings. We should have these five levels of meetings regularly, but we must have the home meetings as the foundation. If the home meetings are not done well, nothing else will be profitable. This will require the elders to take the lead personally and all the brothers and sisters to follow in coordination with the help of the full-time trainees. Then we will certainly produce a good result quickly. This is the long-range view for which we are hoping. I believe that in a few years this will be seen by the angels, the devil, the worldly people, and Christianity. This is the Lord’s church in which there is no organization or dependence on preachers, but in which all are living and following the Lord’s leading. Even the question of whether to continue as a full-time serving one or to get a job is completely organic and free.
The first two steps of the new way have been put into effective practice; the last two steps need further research. Although we already have a rough framework and road for the last two steps, we still need the detailed research and experiments, especially concerning how to lead the home meetings, teach the truth, and minister life. On the one hand, we need to research, and on the other hand, we must continue going on, or else our research will not have a foundation, and there will be a blow to our morale.
Related to the ministry, we have been led by the Lord to work with the goal of building up the church. Therefore, there are three important matters that we must fellowship about so that all the churches will know the present situation of our work. First, we have bought more than twenty-four acres of land in Linkou, and we hope to be able to build a large meeting hall, but our application for the building permit was not approved. Now we are busy carrying out the training and researching the new way; when we want to have a big meeting, we can rent a stadium. From this perspective, the matter of building the large meeting hall in Linkou can be postponed without interrupting our work.
Second, there is the matter of the support for the full-time serving ones. In order to evangelize Taiwan, it would be best if there were 2,500 full-time serving ones; at least we will need 1,000. If we calculate for 1,000, to support their living and to meet the need of their activities, we will need at least NT$10 million every month, so in one year we will need NT$120 million. If we calculate that in US dollars it would be about $4 million. This is not a light burden. Therefore, there is the need for us to take practical action by offering with respect to manpower, time, and money. Without people, time, or money, we will not be able to do anything. I hope that all the elders will have thorough fellowship with all the saints concerning this need.
Up to now there are not yet that many full-time serving ones. The Lord’s grace, however, is always rich and overflowing, so we still do not feel straitened. But once the spreading work officially begins, our financial needs will increase greatly, and if at that time we cannot keep up with the financial needs, it will affect the morale and create problems. In the present stage all the churches, not only in Taiwan but over the whole earth, should care for this matter in one accord and participate in this great move of the Lord in Taiwan. This will not end in a short time but will continue on for at least five years. For this reason we all should properly receive this burden before the Lord to faithfully offer our portion. If we do this, the situation will get broader and wider, and the increase of the Lord’s grace will follow.
Third, there is the need of the full-time training. Because this is a world-wide training, many saints from overseas are attending. The cost of their travel alone is a very great expense. In the future there will also be a training in America for the saints from the Western Hemisphere, while the training in Taiwan will mainly be for the saints from the Far East. At present, we do not have enough helpers, our preparation is not adequate, and the practical way for the carrying out of the training has not yet been made clear. As a result, we can only have a training here in Taiwan. This requires not only some arrangements in the affairs of personnel but also a large financial supply, so we all must spare no effort.
Communications today are increasingly improving, so the globe has become smaller. Therefore, the Lord’s work is spreading more and more. Moreover, English has become the world language, and the Lord has arranged that America and Taiwan would be the two main training centers for the move of His recovery. This is truly the Lord’s grace, so we must grasp it. Three years ago there were a total of just over six hundred churches in the entire world, but now we have already increased to about nine hundred localities. Most of these are located in Central and South America. There are also some in Europe. All of this requires our coordination through the training and financial supply. Otherwise, we will not be able to keep up with the Lord’s move.
Hence, we all must receive the burden not just for Taiwan and the Far East but also for the entire earth. May we all have a clear understanding of the present move among the churches in the Lord’s recovery, and may we know the long-range view for the work, as well as for our future plans, so that we will be able to practically coordinate with the Lord and really participate in His present move.
